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Originally Posted by Tommy Jarvis
Martin 1977 ★★★˝
Martin is a bit of a mean spirited horror from the late George Romero.
At the start, Martin goes to live with his uncle, a god fearing loon who sticks with his delusions, even thugh Martin at two occasions shows him how this is nonsense (It's just a costume). He keeps thinking that Martin is some kind of demon and at one point even has an attempt at an exorcism. An attitude that leads to Martin's sad demise.
Not that he is entirely wrong, mind you. Martin is indeed a deeply disturbed little boy and there are a lot of things wrong with him. Thus providing nature vs nurture material. How much of this insanity came by nature and how much of it was nurture? Because, as we can tell from the flashbacks, the way he was raised did not help either. He is socially inept and nearly incapable of expressing his emotions or having a fluent conversation. Which oddly lands him the attention of a woman who is sick of all the superficial and unwanted opinions floating around in daily life.
This brings me to the oddest things: his views on sex. Sometimes, he comes across as asexual and at others, you're not really sure what he really wants. I'm pretty sure he himself does not even know what he wants or what gets him off. At the start of the film, he murders a woman in a creepy scene, to then feel some disturbing form of intimacy when he cuddles with the naked corpse. Only to then methodically remove all traces from the scene of the crime. While he may be disturbed, Martin is also disturbingly methodical in his method of killing. He is not chaotic crazy and knows what he is doing.
As mentioned before, a mean spirited little horror with (hardly) anyone to root for. The most “fun” comes from seeing a young (and moustacheless) Tom Savini and perhaps from Martin's odd phone calls with a local talk radio host.
For people who like their horror a bit more outside the mainstream lines.
The Running Man 1987 ★★★★★
My personal favorite Schwarzenegger movie.
An interesting concept, certainly when it came out. Nowadays... well, there are no shows that actually kill people, but the level of exploitation might come closer than we all like to admit.
Highly entertaining and excellently paced action. From the first scene, you are tied to the rollercoaster for a great ride.
Cameos by both Mick Fleetwood and Dweezil Zappa. You guys wanna buy a hot stereo?
And last but not least: Arnold at his most Arnold. Amazing fightscenes and oneliners galore.
Great stuff.
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TRM is a great little film, certainly an entertaining one. I love all the great one liners..."What a Hothead!" and "He had to split" are favorites and cool seeing Professor Tour Tananka , one of the best Pro wrestling "heels" in here. I would give this ****.
Some good observations on MARTIN...I think it's one of Romero's best. Very creepy and intriguing how it's never determined just what is going on with Martin. I'm leaning more toward what You said...He does know what He is doing...watching him prep and clean up reminded me very much of the TV show DEXTER. John Amplas is very good and was ultra cool when my wife and I met him at HORRORFIND. I'd give MARTIN ****1/2
THE CANDY SNATCHERS (1973)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Another extremely mean spirited exploitation drive-in flick that is pretty damn good all the same. A Brother/Sister and their friend kidnap a teenager, (Candy) stuff her in a shallow grave with a limited survival potential and drop off blackmail instructions to her wealthy father who does.....nothing. The one thing that struck me in this is what SHITS just about everybody in here is. The other plot device is the kidnappers are seen burying the girl and observed by a little boy, who I got the impression is autistic. His parents are no bargain, especially his mother, who seems to dwell more on what He's doing wrong than anything else. Quite suspenseful in parts with a somewhat grim wrap-up.
I knew of Tiffany Bolloing, who is pretty good in her, but I've heard she HATES TCS, claiming it "ruined" her career. And in the "Life is stranger than fiction" are Susan Sennett (as Candy-she was also in the racy BIG BAD MAMA and on the ultra wholesome TV series OZZIE"s GIRLS with Brenda Sykes) married Graham Nash of The Hollies and CSN while Phyllis Major who is the "assistant" to the father was married to Jackson Browne for a year or so before committing suicide. ****